Hinduism

Hinduism is a family of related traditions, mostly from India, with no single founder or creed. Its many paths share a common frame: an eternal order (dharma), deeds that bind or free (karma), the wheel of rebirth (samsara), and liberation (moksha) as the soul's goal.

Ultimate Reality

Behind the many gods and forms, ultimate reality is Brahman — the one eternal, infinite reality from which everything comes and in which everything exists. Brahman may be worshiped as a personal God, such as Vishnu or Shiva, or contemplated as the formless absolute.

The Human Condition

Each person carries an eternal soul, the atman, which is in truth identical with Brahman. Ignorance of this oneness binds us to samsara: we are born, die, and are reborn according to our karma, in human, animal, or other forms, until knowledge sets us free.

Knowledge and Truth

Truth is carried in the ancient scriptures, above all the Vedas and Upanishads, and taught by gurus who have realized it. The deepest truth is an experience — the soul's direct realization of its oneness with Brahman — so meditation and disciplined practice are honored paths to knowledge.

Right and Wrong

Right living is dharma: the duties of one's stage of life, truthfulness, nonviolence (ahimsa), purity, and generosity. Good deeds build good karma; evil deeds bind the soul more tightly to rebirth.

Human Destiny

The soul's destiny is release: moksha, liberation from the wheel of rebirth, when the atman knows itself as Brahman and is freed from karma. Until then, rebirth continues across many lifetimes, giving the soul chances to learn and advance.

The Conversation

We admire the seriousness with which Hindu thought pursues the ultimate, and the discipline of its devotion. Points of contact: one reality behind the world, and a moral order woven into things. Our honest difference: a personal Creator distinct from creation, and salvation by grace in Christ rather than release from rebirth.